Beijing-based Tsering Woeser has been documenting Tibetan self-immolation protests online for the past few years. But she says Facebook has now deleted one of her posts, and not for the reasons of graphic content that they've given her.

Police removed barricades in Hong Kong on Tuesday, taking down a section of one of the protest movement's camps after two months of sit-ins. But it was a small step by the city's government, and the Occupy Central movement isn't likely to end any time soon.

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11/12/2014 - 12:15pm

There were no smiles or warmth and no lingering chit-chat, but the leaders of China and Japan actually shook hands in front of the cameras. And even that small step is a good sign for a troubled relationship.

The protests in Hong Kong are about democratic reform. But they’re also putting a spotlight on the issue of press freedom in the Chinese territory, where the news media’s reputation for being fiercely independent is now in question.

Some of the leaders of the Hong Kong protests are kids too young to vote. But they also include some veteran political personalities from the Chinese territory, including a 58-year-old left-wing legislator named Leung Kwok-hung, who calls Beijing's moves in Hong Kong "shameless."

Reporter Mary Kay Magistad spent 20 years reporting on China, and says Hong Kong's ingrained culture of law and rights is too powerful for Beijing's normal methods of control to work. And that's in large part because Beijing has ignored the city's real opinions.

Hong Kong's "Umbrella Revolution seems to only get bigger as the days go by. At the center of the protests, demonstrators say they're not planning on leaving any time soon, even as their demands to Beijing remain unclear.

Some of the leaders of the Hong Kong protests are kids too young to vote. But they also include some veteran political personalities from the Chinese territory, including a 58-year-old left-wing legislator named Leung Kwok-hung, who calls Beijing's moves in Hong Kong "shameless."

If Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongol empire and fearsome military leader, were alive today, what kind of tunes would he be listening to? A couple of Beijing-based Mongolian musicians say it would be their band playing Mongolian folk metal.

Beijing-based Tsering Woeser has been documenting Tibetan self-immolation protests online for the past few years. But she says Facebook has now deleted one of her posts, and not for the reasons of graphic content that they've given her.

The Cantonese-speaking heartland of southern China is also the country's most populous region. But Beijing still considers the region's native language of Cantonese to be a minority dialect, and now it wants Cantonese broadcasters to switch to Mandarin — but why now?

In Chinese cities like Beijing, a rising awareness about the dangers of air pollution is evident on people's faces. More and more Beijingers are wearing masks to protect themselves from air pollution. But, in order for them to offer any protection at all, they first must be worn correctly.

The latest Beijing/Tibetan fight is over reincarnation. Though Chinese Communists say the Dalai Lama is an advocate for violent separatism, they were perturbed when the Tibetan Buddhist leader said he might actually die someday.

Updated

03/04/2015 - 10:45pm

Americans aren't the only ones who love the Netflix series 'House of Cards.' Data show that China is downloading the show more than any other country — but do viewers know it's just a show and not actually how the US government operates?

The Cantonese-speaking heartland of southern China is also the country's most populous region. But Beijing still considers the region's native language of Cantonese to be a minority dialect, and now it wants Cantonese broadcasters to switch to Mandarin — but why now?

If Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongol empire and fearsome military leader, were alive today, what kind of tunes would he be listening to? A couple of Beijing-based Mongolian musicians say it would be their band playing Mongolian folk metal.

Paris is the city of lovers, but maybe a little less today. Paris bridges have long been a spot people publicly declared their love — with a lock. But a new effort seeks to stop that trend. Meanwhile, an account from the New York Review of Books looks at the day in the 2000s when the NSA metadata gathering program nearly died. That and more in today's Global Scan.

Twenty years ago, global leaders gathered in Beijing to discuss the status of women worldwide. Today, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the former vice president of South Africa, now heads the UN agency tasked with tackling gender equality issues. She says, despite some progress, women still have a long way to go in the struggle for equality.

University students in Hong Kong don't have a reputation for being zealous when it comes to politics. But on Monday, an estimated 13,000 young people turned out for a pro-democracy rally to send a message to the central government in Beijing and pave the way for a broader movement.

Updated

04/03/2014 - 3:00pm

Early skyscrapers were a uniquely American creation. More specifically, they were a Chicago innovation. But China has now taken the lead when it comes to building the world's newest and tallest skyscrapers. Now, for its newest skyscrapers, China's turning to Chicago for some help.